Brad Pitt was on the Daily Show With Jon Stewart last night talking about his movie Moneyball, which landed him two Oscar nominations: for best picture as a producer and best actor for playing the lead, Billy Beane. The conversation turned to Oscar campaigning when the host suggested, “Why don’t they go negative on other movies? The Oscar race is always ‘For Your Consideration — Moneyball. “But why not like, ‘The Artist — Go F–k Yourself!’ Why not go negative on this guy?”

Pitt played along. “I thought about it,” he said before employing a GOP primary race analogy. “Clooney took Iowa, New Hampshire. Jean took South Carolina. Florida will probably go to Oldman. I’m gonna be hanging out with Ron Paul, so I gotta get in there and mix it up a bit I think.” In the best actor category, Pitt faces Jean Dujardin (The Artist), George Clooney (The Descendants), Gary Goldman (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) and Demian Bichir (A Better Life). Pitt also proposed an alternative way for determining the Oscar winner, taken straight from a reality show. “You know what I think they should do,” he said. “I think we should just put a trophy on the table and like one of those car contests, and we should all just put our hands on it and see who can hold it the longest.” Video below (the Oscar portion starts 6 minutes in.)